Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-10-07
DURING HOT WEATHER.
BITS OF GOOD ADVICE FROM AN
OBSERVANT PHYSICIAN.

Excess Should Be Avoided With Every
Kind of Food-What Not to Drink
Dress-Rest and Recreation-About Sea
Bathing.
In extremely hot weather it is very i'm
portant what and how much) people eat.
Food that can be easily digested should be
eaten, such as perfectly ripe fruit, vege-
tables and Very little meat should
be taken. Animal food is heating and
should be INDUCED in very moderately.
Indeed excess should be avoided with
every kind of food. 1t is very hurtful to
throw into the stomach, while eating,
quantity of extremely cold fluid, as it
lowers the temperature and hinders diges-
ton. The stomach is at q certain terl-
perature while performing it's functions,
, and if that temperature is lowered by the
introduction Of the cold fluid, the process
of digestion is arrested and the food goes
undigested into the intestinal canal and
causes great distress. Cramps, cholera,
summer complaint, are all induced by
such carelessnesS. In cities, where it is
next to impossible to obtain fresh fruit
and vegetables, it is better for those not
| in robust health to abstain from eating
| these, and in warm weather to live largely
! on cereals and milk.
! do not believe in the use of alcohol to
, any great extent. The first effect is ap
parently cooling, but then comes a reac-
| tiCn, and one becomes warmer and thirst
| Ter than ever. Those who indulge freely
| in alcoholic drinks in extremely hot
weather are tempting Providence, and
| are likely to be among the victims of sun
! stroke. Drinking largely of ice cold water
| is bad; it is better to rinse the mouth with
| cool water frequently and avoid swallow
| ing so much. Of course every one knows
| that keeping in the shade, and in a cool
draught of air, is conducive to comfort in
warm weather, but every one cannot do
| this Where there are hundreds who can
| afford to go away to the country or the
| seaside and rest, there are thousands who
| have to stay in the hot city, pursuing
| their work just as usual with, perhaps q
| couple of weeks vacation. These are the
| ones who should be careful how they live.
| The best way to dress is to wear thin
| wooden material next to the skin, as little
| outside clothing as possible and that of
| light color Dark colors draw the heat
| and light ones repel it. 1t is prudent to
carry an umbrella or some protection for
| the head, at least during the middle of the
| day.
Persons of a full habit are generally
more easily affected by the heat than thin
people, but this is not an invariable rule.
| The brainworker who is thin would be
more likely to suffer from intense warm
| Gather than the fat laborer for the rea-
| on that the active brain is much more
| sensitive than the dull one. Of course
| the professional man, leading more Or
| less sedentary life, is not apt to become so
| overheated by exertion as one who works
with his hands. Nevertheless, when it
I comes to exposure to the direct rays of the
| sun, the stolid brain has the best of it.
| The artificial life people lead at most of
our watering places is not productive of
as much benefit as one would think should
| be derived from a summer of rest and en-
| joyment. There are the same pleasures,
| the same dissipation that they have had in
| the city; only the scene is changed. They
| keep late hours and undergo fatigues
| which, if encountered in any useful occu-
| patton, would be pronounced insupport-
| able. Life is thus Slapped instead of
| strengthened This is what most of the
! fashionable resorts do for us. What you
| want for real, wholesome recruiting of
! strength lost is quiet summer in quiet
place. 1t is not necessary to be buried on
a farm, and yet nothing can be sweeter or
| purer than farm sights, sounds and smells,
| where you can have your chosen spot-a
| refuge when you are tired of being with
| people and long to commune with nature
| and to be still.
If it is impossible to go away and stay
for few weeks the short daily trips to
| points near at hand are better than moth
ing. That is all that can be said for
them. The fatigue consequent upon get
| ting to any given point and coming home
again largely detracts from any good
| which may be obtained. This is especially
| SO in the case of children.
Sea bathing is very good for the major
ity of people. There are some, however,
| who should never indulge it. If the skin
| turns purplish color and the teeth chat
| ter, and the feeling upon leaving the water
| is one of debility rather than eXhilara-
| ton, it shows that the bather is not bene-
fted.-Dr. Willard Parker in The Epoch.